I hope to add more designs to our Teepublic store in the future, but this started off as no more than a little experiment. The fantastic piece by Michael Plondaya will have to suffice for now.
I had already made a shirt for myself out of the cover image, but I needed another design to wear at GenCon and Origins (my new con dress code could best be described as "human billboard"). I got some merch printed as a thank you to all our wonderful GMs. The samples finally came in today, and they look pretty darn good on a variety of items; I'm pretty fond of the phone case, personally. Since the quality seems good, I figured it was time to make it available to the public.
Speaking of our wonderful GMs, 15 out of the 25 Red Markets games at GenCon are already sold out! Make sure you get to the event finder and get signed up soon. If you need the spreadsheet to the complete list of games, here it is again.
Again, Allow Me To Remind You About Ducks
You're invited to the party.
Hebanon Games is launching a Kickstarter for its first boardgame on May 23rd. Party Fowl: The Game of Drunk Ducks could really use your support. We already have a website if you want to check it out. For now, make sure to mark "Quack" on that day in your calendars.
Thanks again, everyone. Have a good week!
GenCon Schedule and Ebook
almost 6 years ago
– Tue, May 01, 2018 at 09:26:42 PM
Hello all,
Red Markets at GenCon
It's been a crazy few weeks. Scheduling for GenCon has been...less than ideal. But it's finally all squared away! Here's where you can find us at the convention.
All events are linked to their event page in the GenCon system
We will be selling copies of Red Markets and other merch through the IGDN booth, but we have too many lovely GMs to fit in there.
Games in Green are out in the wild; I won't know their location until GenCon sets a spot
IGDN games are in red. They will be in the official IGDN play room.
If you want to see Caleb talk at panels, seminars are in yellow.
GenCon's arcane guidelines require games outside the IGDN room have different descriptions and content, so we will be running two separate conventions packets.
"Moral Hazards" is the name I've had to give to the Quickstart Guide's contents and accompanying advanced contracts I'm writing for experienced groups.
"Toxic Assets" is the title I've given to the entirely separate convention packet I've had to write to fulfill GenCon's requirements. It will be an early draft of the Le Corbusier supplement (might as well get some playtesting in).
All GMs will have access to both packets, so your crew can decide to switch enclaves as long as the Market is cool with it.
GenCon's system does not like the way Red Markets is set up at all. It's style guide demands a single scenario per game be entered into the system, and it has little patience for RM's "pick your poison" gameplay. Rest assured that every event will have 3-4 separate contracts for players to choose from, no matter what the description may say. There might be some shepherding towards certain jobs if the majority of a crew is new (don't want paralysis-by-analysis in a 4-hour convention slot), but you could play nothing but RM all convention long and never repeat a job.
Performance: A Red Markets Novel now available through Backerkit
The ebook version of the novel is now available through your Backerkit accounts. Downloads include the cover (.jpeg) and a .mobi and .epub version.
I haven't forgotten about the audiobook; it is currently in production by the talented Fae Kells. I'll get that out to everyone when it is ready. Print versions will be available at Origins and GenCon, and I'm hoping to have a POD option ready in the next few weeks for those of you that prefer dead trees.
And Don't Forget...
That's it for today. Don't forget that Hebanon Games has another Kickstarter coming up on May 23rd for our first board game: Party Fowl: The Game of Drunk Ducks. It's got art by the insanely talented KC Green, and I'm quite proud of it. It's exactly the palette cleanser I needed after a heavy design like Red Markets, and some of y'all might feel the same way. If that doesn't convince you, here I am as a duck.
As always, thanks for the support. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments, and I hope to see you all at GenCon!
--Caleb
Get Your QuickStart Guide!
about 6 years ago
– Mon, Apr 16, 2018 at 07:55:57 PM
Hi all,
I didn't want to clog up your inbox with more updates until I had something concrete to show you, but there's a lot of casualties heading down the chute with Spring finally here. Time for the first of many exciting announcements.
When this campaign got rolling, our fantastic editor and her partner (Laura and Adam, respectively) asked me when I would have a quickstart guide ready to go. When I replied "probably never," they kind-heartedly assumed I must not have heard them correctly. I knew the book was nearly 500 pages, right? I realized most people had to be convinced to read that much, surely?
I did. But I was also in the midst of having my life threatened by random Europeans, staring down the barrel of too many outstanding rewards, and preparing for the start of another school year. I couldn't fathom possibly getting the time to wrangle a condensation of the text together, not to mention writing and playtesting an initial contract for it.
They looked at me like I was insane...because I was. Then they went ahead and did it for me.
I...hadn't quite expected that. I should have though. They're great people!
Laura, Adam and Tom have done an absolutely fantastic job making a version of the game that is ready to play ASAP, and they've designed a great intro adventure for a fledgling crew of Takers. The least I could do is throw my hat into the ring late in the game. I contracted some new art for the packet and helped with editing. Kyle and Kat did some layout magic. And here we are, looking at a great product that will greatly enhance the playability and longevity of this game. We all owe Laura, Adam, and Tom a great debt for what they've done to support the Red Markets community. I am especially grateful, and I'm so proud to show off their hard work.
The quickstart guide features all the basic rules of the game, six pregenerated characters, tips for new Markets, a condensed gear sheet, a sample enclave, and an initial contract. Put together with the myriad of other player aides available on the Resources page, you can assemble a crew and get playing in a matter of hours. If you backed the Kickstarter or preordered on BackerKit, you should be getting an electronic copy in your inbox in a matter of moments. Consider it part of the stretch goal rewards.
I'd suggest doing the same in a week or so once we get the POD version proofed and ready to go. It's a pretty little 45 pages, and I know I'll be buying quite a few to pass around the tables of new players I'll be serving this con season. Again, all proceeds from the POD go to our intrepid Takers, rather than curmudgeonly old Stokes with his 200K word counts.
Performance: A Red Markets Novel
The novel is done and edited. It's about 48K words. I'm currently working on getting it laid out in e-book and POD file formats. We'll start recording the audiobook after that, but you can expect the digital file in the next few weeks. Physical copies will be for sale on DTRPG, CreateSpace, and the IGDN booth at whatever conventions tolerate my presence.
Once we get the e-book out, we'll just have the audiobook left as far as core rewards go. From there on out, it's just digital stretch goals...which I can finally dedicate my creative time towards writing and editing now that I'm done agonizing over this tiny book.
Other Stuff
I'm going to be at Origins, Gencon, and maybe a few more conventions in the coming months. We're running tons of events for Red Markets, and I hope to have some more things to offer (posters, t-shirts, other swag, etc) before I announce my full schedule.
Some card art from Party Fowl by the legendary KC Green.
Seeing as we're almost done here except for those digital stretch goals, I'll be launching a new Kickstarter in late May for my first boardgame. Expect me to nag you more about Party Fowl: The Game of Drunk Ducks in the future. It's tone is...um...a little less dark than Red Markets, to put it mildly. At least I finally have an answer for all those people accusing me of being unoriginal for writing a zombie game, and that answer is drunk ducks, apparently. I hope to see all of you fine Hebanon Games supporters there for some decidedly more light-hearted fare.
Personally, considering how wonderful this Kickstarter community has been and the superb support you've shown Red Markets, I think it's only fitting that the next game is going to be about a party...even if it does involve water fowl.
As always, thank you. Let me know if you have any questions or need anything.
February Update
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Feb 08, 2018 at 09:14:36 PM
Hello Takers!
I love reading about all the games going on out there! Scrolling through Facebook, Reddit, and the LifeLines forums and hearing about all the awesome campaigns is one of my most reliable weekly joys. But I suppose I'm overdue for an update. We haven't been resting on our laurels over here.
Writing and Development
What have we been up to? Well, we're writing. I'm working on the novella. I've learned that I take fiction far too seriously. I probably won't be doing it again in the future for that exact reason; I wrote 200K in game text faster than this 45K of novella. It's slow but there is still progress. I'm also working on the first of our enclave/job supplements. When that's done, it'll serve as a template for our other stretch goal supplements. Finally, I'm editing Best Practices and getting it ready for layout. Laura is working on the Carrion Economy as we speak.
Tom Abella, Adam Briskin-Limehouse, and Laura Briskin-Limehouse have done a great job assembling a quickstart version of the rules and playtesting an intro scenario. The text is in layout now. We're just waiting for a few more pieces of art. This packet will be available for free online, so every backer should expect one in their backerkit account eventually. The hope is to have it available as a POD pamphlet through DTRPG as well. Expect this in a few weeks. Hopefully, the quickstart packet will solve the problem some of us have been having with players daunted by the sheer size of the book.
GenCon
The QuickStart packet is just one aspect of the full-court press to get ready for GenCon, which is...still like 200 days away. This convention gets more ridiculous every year, and the job of getting a game ready to premiere there is no small task. I've been shuffling inventory, scheduling panels, learning to run a booth, securing housing, and completing the dozen other little administrative tasks required just to get to Indy. I'd be lost without Adam and Laura's help, but it's still an enormously time-consuming task.
Thankfully, things are going well. We'll be running at least 13 games of RM through the IGDN showcase room, and plenty more are being scheduled through general event submission. There will be dozens of RM games going on throughout the convention, and those are just the ones I know about.
If you plan to run with a crew at GenCon, I'd suggest holding off reading the Quickstart packet until after the convention. We're going to be running through the quickstart en masse at the convention in order to get as many new people exposed to the game as possible, and I wouldn't want to spoil the job for you. But don't worry if you feel like you're a little too much of an original Moth to mess with an entry-level job. I'll be assembling a packet of GenCon-exclusive jobs in the Bust-mode for experienced groups that want more of a challenge, and it will be available to any Market that wants a copy. If everyone at the table decides they are hardcore enough to chase after the big bounty, just be sure to guide any "newly hired" Takers through the system as best you can. Letting the new guy go Vector in the first leg really hurts the bottom line.
I'll also be at Origins in June, but events, seminars, and games get pulled together for that convention only after GenCon is squared away, despite it occurring sooner. I'll post another update about where you can find me in Columbus when we get closer to the date, but as of now I only know I'll be there.
Uh...this isn't from Red Markets. Or is it?! No. It's not. Still a game you should check out though.
Other Hebanon Games Stuff
Other than that? I only work well when I'm working on two things at once. I'm still plugging away at my palette-cleanser card game called Party Fowl. We hope to Kickstart this summer. For being such an admittedly silly idea, I'm really proud of how it looks (KC Green art!) and plays. You can hear more about the game and its development on my podcast: The Mixed Six. So far, I've only used my share of the Patreon money to buy more Red Markets art (that's how business works, right?), so giving us a listen is a good way to support the game's continued development.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for supporting Red Markets!
Finish Line?
over 6 years ago
– Mon, Dec 04, 2017 at 10:11:49 PM
It's not a finish line, of course. There are still a number of stretch goals to go and a novel I've yet to finish. We're working on them: I just sent out a few more freelance contracts today to get things rolling again on the stretch goal front, for instance.
However, I'm finally confident enough to say that most of the Red Markets books and dice have arrived.
If you haven't received your copy yet and filled out the BackerKit surveys before the deadline, don't freak out. We're well within the busiest shipping period of the year. If nothing arrives by January 15th, 2018 (or if it arrives damaged), contact me and I'll make things right. Sending replacements now might see an extra copy arrive after your previously shipped one or, worse, the replacement lost in the same holiday postal mess as the first.
If you didn't fill out the BackerKit survey before October 3rd, it's on you to contact me. I was very clear (across multiple platforms) about the survey due date and the requirement for paying shipping. If you didn't utilize that opportunity at the time, the tough news is that I no longer have an international shipping service under contract, and I will not be paying money out of my pocket to ship a book back overseas, then again to ship the book to another country. International shipping costs for latecomers just jumped up A LOT because we're back to the 'shipping out of the US' prices.
If you're late to the game filling out BackerKit surveys and live in the US, you still need to contact me. I'm not going to check that platform every day like I have for the last six months. It's on you to let me know you finally got around to filling in an address and credit card. I'll get it the mail when the check clears and I have spare time.
Speaking of shipping, now that the endless fiasco is mostly over, I've recorded a Game Designer's Workshop episode on the subject. It's a more detailed breakdown of the whole process, beginning-to-end, than any of us have time to cover in text. Suffice it to say that the recording is NSFW. Your podcast wouldn't be clean either if you'd been through what I've been through...seen what I've seen.
(long pause)
(thousand-yard stare)
But I got through it. Thanks to supportive backers. Thanks to the intelligence, patience, and kindness of the Red Markets community. Thanks to the hard-work of the diligent contributors to this great game. Thanks to our fantastic, conscientious vendors and distributors. Thanks to selfless reviewers, raters, and purchasers at IPR and DTRPG. Thanks to all those people, the book is out there in the world now. People can buy it, read it, and play it. It can stand on its own, finally.
That's an enormous achievement that I'm very proud of, and frankly, if you had any part in it, you should be to. It's a game some people love, and I think it says an important thing at a time when we all need to be saying something. I wouldn't have invested so much of myself into it if I didn't believe that were true, and I'm forever grateful and in the debt of all who helped me bring that vision into the world. Thank you.
Hit me up if you have questions, or DM me if you need help with something specific.
